Originally Posted by
YVR Cockroach
B008. (1989) As a well sought after free-lance travel writer, yours is an envious lot indeed. You’ve just finished writing an article for Conde Nast Traveler magazine about Varadero, Cuba - one of the largest and most popular resort areas in the Caribbean. Now you’re on your way to Honolulu for a reunion with your old college roommates. Nobody said it would be easy traveling from Cuba to Hawaii in 1989, but you’ve found a workable itinerary involving three flights aboard three different airlines, each operating a different aircraft type. One of the aircraft has two engines, another has three engines and the other has four engines – though they are not necessarily flown in that order. None of the airlines are from the U.S. So then, please identify the three airlines, the route to be flown and the three different aircraft.
From the clues it is pretty obvious WardAir with an A310 for the YYZ-YVR leg. If it isn't WardAir, Air Canada or Canadian for the YVR-HNL leg operated by a 747, I think that eliminates all Canadian carriers? Doubt if it was an European carrier in that era, and don't think any Asian carrier would have gone off the great circle that much to go via HNL. Have no idea if QANTAS operated 747s between HNL and YVR (just 763s ~10-12 years later) but it certainly did out of SFO but I will guess QANTAS anyway for YVR-HNL, with the 747-200...
Way to break it down, YVR! You have solved this question to a T. Here's the itinerary:
Air Canada AC 977 Varadero (VRA) 1110a-225p L Toronto (YYZ) 727-200 Sa Su
Wardair WD 307 Toronto (YYZ) 500p-650p D Vancouver (YVR) A310-300 Daily
Qantas QF Vancouver (YVR) 830p-1125p D Honolulu (HNL) 747-200 Th Su